Calla Potter and the Little Sipping Girl
by The Nightosphere
Summary: AU Calla Potter is the Girl that Lived, and the Girl that Wishes She Never Did. Set in sixth year, after the Battle at the Ministry, Calla is still recovering from a year spent dodging mind rapists and dark lords. However, her secrets are coming out.
1. Chapter 1

Calla Potter and the Little Sipping Girl

AU This story could not be anymore AU. Female Harry. Harry=Calla. Set in sixth year, Sirius is alive and Voldemort is gathering his forces. In her fifth year, Calla convinced Snape that she was a poor Occlumens. What he doesn't know is that she was hiding secrets from him that would have destroyed her, as well as given the Wizardring world a reason to despise muggles.

Severus Snape marched toward the Great Hall with a sneer firmly fixed on his face. He had just successfully taken away thirty points from Ravenclaw, confiscated one of Fred and George's pranks from a third year Hufflepuff, and presumably made Neville Longbottom pee his pants. It was a great day for the sour Potions Master.

He had just entered the Great Hall when a balloon whizzed violently by his head, followed by an aggravated Peeves. "What is going on here?" he snarled at two nearby sixth years. The duo shrugged and pointed up the table, to where the bane of his existence sat. Calla Potter was sitting morose, surrounded by her scarlet faced, laughing friends at Gryffindor table. The Potions Master sneered and drew himself up, approaching the group like a panther.

"Causing trouble, I see," Snape said dryly. The group stopped their horse play and turned to face him.

"We weren't doing anything wrong, sir," Dean Thomas said loudly. "We just let go of that balloon on accident because it got too full-"

"Silence, Mr. Thomas. I know one of Fred and George Weasley's gags when I see one. Ten points from Gryffindor for childish nonsense."

"Oh please," Calla spat. "That wasn't anything against the rules and you know it."

Snape grinned. "Five points for your cheek, Miss Potter. Perhaps I should ask your Head of House to cousel you on manners."

Calla turned to face him, her mother's eyes burning through a curtain of thick, red hair. "As if you have the right to talk, Professor. "

"And a week of detention, scrubbing the entire potions lab. Have you anything else to say, Miss Potter?"

Calla whipped her head around, which might have been a more intimidating act if a large Gryffindor scarf was not wrapped around her neck.

"Put away your nonsense. NOW, Mr. Thomas. You should be working."

Calla rolled her eyes as far as she could make them go, her adventure in Snape's memory swimming to the surface. Of course he expected to make everyone study as much as he did. '_Good luck_,' she thought bitterly. '_No one except Hermione has that kind of study ethic, and she doesn't even walk around with her nose in a book twenty-four seven_."

The group watched Snape walk to the Head Table before sinking into a chorus of groans.

"Why does he have to be so insufferable?" Ron breathed, pulling a bowl of crisps under his nose. "I absolutely _hate_ him!"

Calla sighed, pulling at her scarf. "I know. Atleast we don't have him until tomorrow."

Hermione lowered her book, "I still don't understand why on Earth he had to pick on Sirius last weekend though. I know I'm always saying he's on our side, but sometimes I wonder if he wants everyone to hate him."

Calla didn't let his involvement in her parents deaths come up. "Maybe."

Calla wondered how Sirius was doing at his new cottage in the country. He had been beside himself when the Ministry practically gave it to him, begging him not to do anything vengeful. She wanted to be thankful towards Snape for his actions the year before. She doubted anyone else would have used Voldemort's attempt at trying to get into her mind as a trap to capture a few Death Eaters. He still didn't know the truth about her skills though.

When Dumbledore approached her, explaining how Voldemort was using her connection to him to torture her and find out information, it had frightened her. She had never wanted her mind to be used like that. She quickly came to terms with sharing her memories of the muggle world with Dumbledore, but then he had said it.

"I have asked Severus to teach you Occlumency."

The words sunk to the deepest pit of her bowels, and she could not breathe. Snape? Snape teach her Occlumency? The idea of that man swimming through her memories of Privet Drive, of the hotels, hit her like a speeding frigot.

"Oh, sir. But, couldn't you-you know-teach me yourself?"

Dumbledore's head inclined, his hands never leaving their clasped position infront of him. "No, my dear." The enormous sapphire on his right index finger glittered almost as brightly as his eyes as a ray of sunshine filtered in past Fawkes. "It would be too risky for me to allow you into my mind, as Tom might take advantage of it. No, Calla, Severus will be your teacher. He is almost as skilled as I am."

Calla shook, hidden in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Myrtle was off spying, so Calla had time to sit and panic. She had never felt more betrayed by the man at that time, even when she had been...there. Tied up...and Piers...

So the Occlumency lessons began. Calla and Hermione had practically destroyed the library looking for books on Occlumency and Legilimency. It was midnight before her first lesson when an idea hit Calla's head. All she had to do was do what she did _then_, to hide what she felt when they did _that_ to her. She would do it to Snape as well. And he'd never know.

He didn't know. He picked and prodded at her brain, snarling about her incompetence and laziness. She was assaulted everynight, ending up on the floor in a cold sweat. Somehow, he never made it. Snape never expected that Calla would have anything particularly gruesome to hide, so he never looked for it. Instead, he looked for things to use as insults towards James Potter, and sneered when Marge's dogs chased her up the trees. He never got past the bullying; and, Calla assumed that Voldemort never could as well.

Snape considered her a poor Occlumens, and he was right. She often felt that had he become curious enough about the extremes of the bullying he saw in her childhood, he would have destroyed her. However, Snape still believed she was a spoiled, attention seeking prat. One that was nothing more than a poor imitation of her better, prettier, smarter mother.

Calla grinned into her cornish pasty. That suited her just fine.

TBS Working on second part today.

Criticism and comments are very much appreciated!

Love, Ember Spy :)-


	2. Chapter 2

"Calla, are you okay? You've been tugging at that scarf all afternoon? I still don't see why you wear that thing." Ron was staring at Call uncertainly. She hoped she wasn't attracting too much atention.

"No, Ron, I'm just thinking." She smiled, poking him in the ribs with a pen.

"You do wear that thing a lot, though. You didn't have it last year."

Sonja swallowed. "I just like the style is all, 'Mione."

Hermione shook her head, her eylids lowered skeptically.

"Whatever. Did you take what was left of our Dreamless Sleep today in potions?"

Calla's heart flipped, "No, I emptied it. Snape would've hanged me if he caught me with that."

Ron scoffed, "Yeah, and accuse all the Gryffindors of being potions poppers."

Hermione's lips pursed. "All right, just making sure."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm exhausted, guys."

Ron didn't bother looking up from his Quidditch magazine, "Goin' to bed all ready, Calla?"

"Yeah, I'm tired. Snape was ruthless, you know how it is."

The two forlorn lovebirds nodded, probably terrified that Calla was leaving them alone, and watched her leave.

Calla collapsed onto her bed. All the girls were gone, frolicking through the castle with their lovers. She absentmindedly swept her hand across her stomach. It had been two weeks since they had returned to Hogwarts. Her throat went dry as she patted her breasts, trying to will the tenderness to go away. _Damn them._ Calla put Piers's looming, laughing face out of her mind. She'd kill him once she could use magic outside of school.

Ever since she had awoken from that horrific night, with what little Petunia had thrown her outside in ripped and strewn all over the ground, Calla had been waiting for her period. It seemed like a matter of life and death that she get it, else she would throw herself off the Astronomy Tower. Petunia had hated Calla to the point of nearly killing her, saying that she looked too much like her good-for-nothing mother. Calla often wondered if Petunia Dursley and Lily Potter's relationship had been a brutally sadistic one.

Her neck was still the worst thing she had ever seen. Sometimes it hurt to speak, but she felt that if the wizardring world found out that thier Chosen One was torn apart by a group of incompetent muggle boys, all their hope would be tossed out the window and Voldemort would have won.

Calla drew the curtains closed around her bed as she remembered Dudley and Piers over the summer. She had been walking back to her bedroom from the bathroom when she had walked past them. They were watching a movie on Dudley's new flat screen telly. They had been watching action movies all weekend, but Calla still grew worrisome when she saw them laughing at a woman being assaulted by three gang members. She had rushed away from the door, hoping to avoid them seeing her in Dudley's old tshirt, but she hadn't been quick enough. She had grown up being chased by their little gang, beaten and taunted, so she wasn't surprised when they later crammed themselves into the smallest bedroom.

Piers brushed away her hair when Dudley had finished beating his place as the ringleader of his gang into her head. Her eyes swam as the room spun around her, and she found herself under Piers. He licked her mouth greedily before tearing Dudley's old clothes off her. She protested, loudly, and attracted Vernon and Petunia's attention. They were livid when they found the three of them crammed into the bedroom, with Calla being smothered by Piers. The two boys hurriedly proclaimed their innocence, screaming that Calla had lured them into her room and tried to take their innocence. Those few words were all Petunia needed to drag Calla out by her feet. Calla grabbed some clothes as this occured, squirming her way into them while Petunia and Vernon beat and drug her to the back lawn.

Dudley and Piers watched lazily through the windows as Vernon wrapped his meaty hands around her neck and squeezed for all she was worth. Petunia later returned with an old crop that Dudley had used during his one horse riding lesson. Calla spent the rest of the summer living in the shed. When Petunia would find her in the mornings with her clothes gone, she would go find one of Dudley's shirts and spray her down with the hose before returning it to her. Calla would sneak around at night and prod the wards around Number 4. She tried to escape everynight, but the wards there never lessened. Her body would burn everytime she tried to leave, and the few times Hedwig visited with a letter, the entire exchange of communication was overseen by Petunia. Calla hated that woman more than she hated Voldemort himself. However, she also began to feel a deeper, sicker hatred towards Dumbledore. For all his attempts to keep her safe, he had failed miserably and didn't even know it.

On her bed in the dorm, _Yes_, she thought bitterly. _She would be there to defeat Tom Voldemort Riddle. They would just have to place in her a straightjacket if she survived._


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Calla is the female version of Harry Potter. This is AU.

Hermione hummed as she sifted through all the parchment in her Ancient Runes folder.

"Really, Hermione," said Ron incredulously, "really?"

"What, Ron? I need to be as prepared as possible for the next quiz."

"Oh, all right. Although I don't see why you need all that, you all ready know all the Rune texts by heart!"

Hermione scoffed, not noticing Snape's sneer as he passed by. "Ronald, it wouldn't due to lose a point because of something that snuck up!"

Calla grabbed a fish finger from the table and laughed, "Yeah, whatever, 'Mione. Like any rune could sneak past you."

Ron laughed, "You're as meticulous as a goblin."

Hermione made a "humph" sound and brushed her hair back. "I think goblins should have more respect, Ron."

"Yeah, go tell that to Binns."

Calla laughed as they bickered a bit more. She didn't notice her scarf come loose and reveal a bit of skin.

"CALLA!" Hermione's face was flustered and she looked like a drowning fish. "What _happened_?"

Calla cleared her throat and covered the seared flesh back up. "Uh, nothing, Hermione. Your eyes must be acting strange-"

"My eyes are not acting strange. You need to go to the Hospital Wing!"

Ron perked up, "Wha'? Is something wrong?"

"No, Ron," Calla snapped, "Eat your bangers and ignore her."

"Calla Potter! Your neck is covered in infection! Go the Hosptial Wing!"

Calla's anger reared its ugly head, "If I wanted to go to the Hospital Wing, I would go, Hermione. Drop it. Please."

Hermione sulked, grabbing her books and rushing off. Calla pressed her face into her hands. What if she told McGonagall? She'd be screwed.

She hurried after Hermione, knowing she'd be at Herbology waiting for her and Ron.

Professor Sprout plucked a ruby flower from a large pot and brandished it infront of the class. Calla fidgeted beside Hermione, prodding her and raising her eyebrows at her in frustration. Hermione bit her lip and ignored her though. Ron looked perplexed.

"This plant is used in many potions that expell the body of various poisons, potions, and harsh muggle drugs." Sprout explained to the sixth years. "Many witches and wizards find it useful it ridding oneself of poisons injected by bugs, snakes, and marine animals. The leaves can be grinded and used in a potion that one must drink as a tea that can be used to get rid of parasites, but also is controversially used in abortions. Such potionmaking is not condoned here at Hogwarts," Sprout eyed the girls beadily. "So out of experience, I am going to tell you that if you have such a, problem, occur, I urge you to go see Madame Prompfrey."

Calla's stomach dropped as Sprout eyed the girls one last time before proceeding with ways to care for the ruby, meaty plant. She grabbed a small pot from the center of the table and looked down at hers. It was new, and its petals sparkled with something silver.

"We have to wash the petals with a sponge," Hermione said tersely, handing Ron a yellow, duck shaped sponge.

He wrinkled his nose at it. "It smells like, like, wet dog to be honest."

"Good observation skills, Ronald Weasley," Sprout called out. "The smell of the pollen, which is the silver bits you see here, release a faint smell that is often associated with a wet dog. Very few people actually notice it, five points to Gryffindor."

The Hufflepuffs sighed in resignation as Ron earned his first points of the day.

"Really, Ron, I can't believe she gave you points for knowing what it smells like. I knew everything about its uses in Angelio Marty's_ Potions from the Orient _and _The Cauldron Stews_, and I didn't get a single point!"

"Well, she does know by now that you know everything there is to know about, well, everything."

Hermione sighed. "I s'pose. Calla?"

"Hmm?" Calla dropped out of her thoughts about the plant's uses.

"I've been wondering, well-it's just that you haven't said anything about Voldemort lately. Do you, are you worried about anything?"

Calla stopped walking. "No, no one has told me anything. Now that Pettigrew and a few others are back in prison, all the attention has been on their trials. I reckon everyone is just more into Neville's testimony next month than anything."

"But have you had anymore dreams?"

Calla scratched her ears. "No, no dreams."

"So you've blocked him out?" Ron asked wistfully.

Calla shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he's just trying to regain control. I think the Ministry is going to lose it soon anyway, what with Umbridge still there. And there's no telling how many Ministry officials have been compromised. Dumbledore hasn't talked to me. When he got me at the Dursley's, he just dropped me off your place, Ron. He showed me his hand, but that's it."

"I still don't understand what he could've been meaning by that," Hermione said. Her eyes faded a bit, and she started as a drop of rain hit her on top of the head.

Calla looked up, towards the bridge. Snape was crossing it in deep strides, and he was being followed by dark clouds of rain. She could smell wet pumpkins all the way from Hagrid's hut.

"I think he might be dying," Calla whispered before she could stop herself. The trio watched Snape glide through the bridge for a minute more, and then silently fled back to Gryffindor Tower.

WIP

Comments and Criticism welcome. Thank you if you have read this far! :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own _Harry Potter_.

The Bleeding Poppy glared up at Calla from its hiding spot near the Forbidden Forest. She had just managed to nick it from the greenhouse before Sprout had the whole lot sent to the dungeons. Hermione's voice floated over her,

"What are you doing? It's chilly out here."

Ron stuffed his hands in his pockets as if to reassert Hermione's observation.

"Yeah, well I have a scarf."

The pair looked oddly at her. "We think you should atleast let us see what you've been hiding," Ron said quietly. He looked over his shoulder. "We know it hurts you, and we've seen it. We saw you pull it off when you thought no one was around."

Calla's eyes narrowed. "That was last week, guys. Just get over it!"

"Calla, can't you see it? You tried to hide it from us last year that Umbridge had you cutting yourself! None of this is healthy behaviour. And, well, I'm just worried that you're not taking care of yourself."

"I'm the Chosen One, Hermione," Calla bit back. "It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as Voldemort is defeated. I can't sit around feeling sorry for myself, and if I go around whining about my miscomings, it'll just prove that Snape is right."

"Snape is not a factor in this, your well-being is!"

"Don't care what those slimy Slytherins or anyone else says, Calla. They don't have half as much guts as you do," Ron said hotly. " He and Hermione stepped a bit closer, and Calla eased herself between the Bleeding Poppy and her friends. "Maybe just a, simple healing draft," she whispered earnestly. "I don't want anyone knowing about this."

The two Gryffindors nodded and followed Calla back to Hogwarts.

"Promise you won't utter a single world to no one," Calla said in a hushed voice as they hid themselves in an abandoned classroom.

"We promise," Ron assured her, his eyes darting to the door every now and then.

Calla clenched and relaxed her fists, completely unsure of what she was doing and if it was necessary. "All right." She grasped the scarf and began to unwound it, carefully keeping her arms at a safe angle. "Do not fuss, Hermione," she warned.

Hermione and Ron's faces screwed up in disgust as Calla's neck came into few. It was black and purple, with a thick laceration around her the middle of her neck. Dry blood and infection was still on what appeared to be finger imprints. Ron covered his mouth as the smell and sight overwhelmed him, and Hermione looked faint.

"Who, no how? Why, Calla?"

"The muggles, guys. I told you they were bad to me, and made me sleep in a cupboard. I just didn't want to spare the details on other things..."

Ron went from ashy and sick looking to purple and livid in seconds. "WHICH ONE WAS IT?"

"Calm down, Ron!" Calla and Hermione chorused.

"I can't believe they would go so far," Hermione sobbed.

Calla breathed, not wanting to explain why her neck was in its current state.

"You have to tell Dumbledore!" Ron said beseechingly.

"No, I'm not telling anyone."

Hermione lifted a finger to touch the swollen wounds from Petunia's crop, but changed her mind. "Did they all do this?"

Calla grunted, "Petunia, Vernon, Dudley, Piers, and three boys I don't know but will be dead at the other end of my wand one day."

Hermione and Ron's eyes narrowed. "They didn't," Ron tried to search for better ways of wording his fears, "t-t-touch you or anything did they?"

Calla's heart hammered, and she stayed silent. Hermione eventually filled the stiff silence with short sobs.

"What is going on in here?"

The trio turned to find Filch and Snape in the doorway, and the footsteps of McGonagall and Flitwick were approaching as well.

Ron and Hermione jumped infront of Calla on instinct. "Nothing," they sqeaked in unison. Snape swept forward and pushed Ron aside, so that he could get a better look at Calla. Her red hair hung stubbornly infront of her eyes, which she kept down. Hermione and Ron let out an audible sigh of relief. If there was one thing the three of them could agree on, it was that Snape was the last person they wanted to find out.

"Sneaking around, I see." Snape drawled, his eyes narrowing as he stared down his crooked nose. One wiry eyebrow went up as he spoke. "And what, might I ask, are the three of you doing here? I believe the sixth year Gryffindors have study hall at this time. Or are the working of this institution just the makings up of my imagination?"

"No, sir." Hermione answered, her voice lost of all sweetness. "Just talking about...things."

Ron chipped in by nodding.

Snape sneered, "Then you won't mind sharing? What have you been doing late at night, Calla? A certain informant has told me that you have been sneaking around in the dungeons. Not stealing potions ingredients again, I hope."

"I haven't stolen anything," Calla said hotly, "sir."

Snape curled his lip before turning on his heel and following the rest of the teachers to what seemed to be a staff meeting.

"That greasy bastard." Ron snarled. He turned back around to face Calla and Hermione. "All right, we atleast need to get you healed up."

"Calla, have you been doing what he said?"

"Doing what?" Calla shrugged.

"Sneaking in the dungeons."

Calla swallowed, but it was painful. "Yeah. I just needed some stuff is all."

Hermione and Ron exchanged worried looks but nodded.

"That's it for now. Let's go before the greasy git returns."

They shuffled silently to the dungeons, aware of the line they were toeing but determined to take advantage of the unwatched ingredients storage. Hermione entered the closet while Calla and Ron stood outside.

BANG.

The two jumped as footsteps got closer, and they hurried into the closet.

"What is it?" Hermione hissed?

"Someone's coming," Calla answered. "I've got my invisibility cloak, hold on."

Ron and Hermione narrowed their eyes as Calla's cloak came into view, mostly because Calla was out of it. The three of them stuffed Hermione's selections into Ron's bag and then stuffed themselves beneath the cloak.

"I can't believe it, Goyle. Who does that bat think he is?"

"Ummm mmmmm," Goyle replied, his face never changing. Crabbe followed closely behind.

"Snape, everytime I see him I want to shove his face into the floor. Trying to steal all my attention."

Crabbe and Goyle scowled, which was probably their only facial expression.

"Damn it. Well, why don't you two just go on. GO ON. I can do this by myself. Salazar knows I've had to do EVERYTHING by myself."

Draco closed the lab doors in Crabbe and Goyle's faces before turning towards the supply room. The trio labored to slink past him, Hermione had quickly and silently cast a charm on their shoes to withhold noise. They watched from the corner as Draco mauled the ingredients shelves, taking random things before he spat in it and tossed it on the floor.

"I can't believe him!" Hermione hissed.

He sobbed quietly, stopping every now and then long enough to wring his hands or stomp his feet. Everytime he simply moaned or cursed. "Stupid Snape. Stupid Malfoys, I HATE EVERYTHING!"

Ron nearly jumped out of the invisibility cloak as a jar of pickled toad hearts crashed above his head.

"I'm going to die," Draco wept finally. His face was screwed up and his hair was a mess. Calla wondered if he even realized that he just had to go to Dumbledore. But then, she thought miserably, he would lose his parents. (Although she didn't care much for Lucius and Narcissa, she doubted Draco deserved to think he was the reason for their deaths. No, their crimes needed to be the reason for that.)

"We'd better go," Calla whispered.

"Draco?" a familiar baritone voice washed over them. "What is going on here? Who else is with you?"

Draco started. "S-Snape, YOU! Leave me alone, bastard!"

Snape drew himself up. My wards on this lab are shivering, Draco!"

Hermione cursed.

Draco paled, "What?"

"There are others in here with you. And since neither of us know who they are, or can see them, I have a good guess as to who they may be."

The trio shook, and would have darted to the door had it not been blocked.

"ACCIO CALLA'S CLOAK!"

Calla nearly emptied her stomach as the cloak was ripped out from her hands landed in Snape's. Draco went livid with rage, Hermione sobbed into her sleeve, and Ron looked faint.

"So," Snape's voice was too quiet for their comfort. "What have we here?"

WIP


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own_ Harry Potter_. Much to my distaste. I want to thank everyone that has remained interested up to this point. Sorry for spelling errors and such as well. I have written these past five chapters tonight, and wanted to get it out of my system.

Chapter Five

Calla's blood ran cold. She felt her hands began to shake as Snape clutched her cloak in a vice grip, his pallid face growing more and more grotesque as he neared them. "Three impertinent Gryffindors do need to learn how to stop snooping _where they do not belong_."

Hermione's voice quivered, "Please, Professor. W-w-we-we were just-"

"Save it," Snape's spittle hit the three of them in the face, "the three of you will be punished. Rest assured, Dumbledore will hear about this."

A strangled grunt interrupted the silence, but Snape said nothing.

"Well," Ron said defiantly," Draco was snooping around too. He's the one that threw everything everywhere!"

"I did not, you filth," Draco snarled from behind Snape. "I swear Professor," Draco's eyes glittered hatefully in Calla's direction, "I came in because I heard someone breaking jars. By the time I'd reached the cupboard, there was no one there."

Snape's lip curled, and he turned around to face Calla. He grabbed her shoulder hard, making her wince. He must have thought she winced out of fear of him, for he smiled. "You three will not be expelled of course, no. Dumbledore could never have his precious Golden Trio thrown out of Hogwarts."

Calla and Ron exchanged weary glances.

"Instead you will serve detention, here. You will scrub all the cauldrons and the floor. All under mine or Filch's supervision."

Draco winked at the three of them as he shuffled back outside, slowing down long enough to hear fifty points being taken from Gryffindor.

"You aren't punishing Draco then?" Calla snarled before they could be pushed out.

"What Draco was doing is between him and me. You are to keep your dirty nose to yourself, unless you are trying to take after that mut of a godfather of yours. Snooping around and causing trouble."

Calla seethed up at Snape, "Whatever, Professor."

"Manners, Potter." Snape was about to whirl around when he was stopped. Calla had the cloak by the hem.

"Calla!" Hermione cried, caught by surprise as Snape nearly fell by the force of Calla's pull.

"Potter, what the blazes is wrong with you?"

Calla snarled, "You are not keeping my cloak, Professor Snape. Sorry." She pulled harder on it.

Snape regained his composure and his eyes narrowed to slits. "You spoiled, good-for-nothing brat."

Calla felt the effect of the words before she heard them. Her hands froze and her body contracted, falling to the floor as shock overwhelmed her.

_Petunia approached the mass with distaste. Dudley's friends had been by that night, and as usual were staying to themselves. Calla could see her horse-like face remain placid as she lifted the hose to turn it on. "Come here, freak," her shrill voice bit at the air like needles. _

_Calla lifted herself up and groaned past the pain. Her firebolt scar burned into her skin horribly, making her head hurt even more. But other than that, her throat was swollen and burning. Blood wept down her legs, and she was entirely covered by bruises and cuts. Her latest shirt clung to her body, showing off her developing curves. _

_Petunia wrinkled her nose as Calla came into view. She turned the hose to its highest setting before hitting her in the face with water. Calla shivered violently and coughed, making the pain in her insides intensify. Petunia threw a cheese sandwich at her and refilled a nearby glass with the water. _

_"That's all your kind deserve, you good-for-nothing freak."_

"Oh my God, Calla! Calla, wake up! Wake up, Calla!"

Hermione's shrill voice pierced through the water Calla thought she was shivering in. When she opened her eyes, she was shivering violently on the potions lab floor. Snape and Ron stood over them.

"My, my. How the delicate have fallen," Snape sneered.

"Come on," Ron grabbed Calla by the arms. "We'll take care of her." He led the two girls out before Snape could respond. He still held his former enemy's cloak in his cold hands.

"What happened back there?" Ron asked as they climbed Gryffindor Tower.

"I just remembered something." Calla answered.

Hermione sighed. "Was it Voldemort?"

Calla breathed. "Snape would've been freaked out if it were. I think he knows when its Voldemort."

Ron shook his head. "So its them then, the muggles, I mean."

Calla stopped and stood against the wall. "Look, guys, I'm sorry. For getting you in trouble and everything. I should've known we wouldn't be able to get those ingredients."

"Actually, Calla, we did get the ingredients." Hermione lifted the flap of Ron's bag. "You fainted before Snape got interested enough to look."

"Brilliant distraction. It's a shame it took that though." Ron looked forlorn at his bag.

Later, Hermione found herself looking at Calla's neck and chest. She felt the need to throw up or run to McGonagall for help. However, she plowed forward, gently rubbing the salve she had just brewed. "The healing potion will be done by lunch." She referred to the simmering mini cauldron tucked beneath her bed. "You can take a cup then."

Calla nodded and eased into bed. "Thanks, Hermione."

Hermione nodded once before before sniffing sadly and stuffing the jar into her trunk. Neither of them slept well that night.

"Voldemort's attacked!" Dean ran up the Great Hall flailing a copy of _The Daily Prophet_. "Happened last night at Ollivander's! They ransacked the entire place, and Mr. Ollivander's gone!"

Everyone crowded around his paper and gasped at the pictures. Calla, Ron, and Hermione shared uneasy glances. Dumbledore was nowhere around.

"Detention tonight with Snape. I can't wait." Ron growled through Transfiguration.

"It could be worse, I guess." Calla said sadly. "We could be stuck with Umbridge writing lines."

Hermione moaned, "Oh, that's horrible, Calla."

McGonagall made sure they had properly changed their bricks to armchairs before letting them go.

SMACK. Ron swore as he collided with a couple of second years, which made Hermione and Calla bump into him. Hermione cried out as her books flew in all directions, and Calla swore as pain shot through her chest and stomach. She groaned, doubling over, as everyone gathered themselves. The second years saw the Chosen One doubled over in pain and tore away as fast as they could.

"Calla?" Hermione asked, pulling back Calla's curtain of red hair. "Are you hurt? Tell me where."

"'Mione," Calla sobbed into her shoulder. "Oh God, 'Mione."

"Ronald, go get Prom-"

"No! No, not that, please not that," Calla sobbed. "You can do it. You can do it, Hermione."

"Do what?" Ron asked in a frightened voice.

"H-help, help me."

Hermione shook despite the firm grip she held Calla in. "What do you need?"

Calla seethed before leaning against Hermione weakly, murmuring something into her ear that made her gape at Ron. "Calla..."

Snape sneered over them as they knew he would. They exchanged furtive glances throughout the ordeal, Ron trying to lessen Calla's load as much as possible. Snape snarled, "Stop that this once, Weasley. As Potter is neither crippled nor invalid, she does not need your assistance. Although, what can I expect from a pampered princess? You really are your father's daughter, Potter."

Calla saw stars as Snape snarled, "And no better than your worthless godfather. The Ministry may have acknowledged his innocence, but he is still nothing more than a poor excuse of a wizard, and a cruel bastard that deserves Azkaban."

Calla bit back, wondering if Snape was trying to get himself killed.

The three of them kept their heads down and weathered his taunts for an hour before he finally said, "I know what you took."

Their heads shot up at this. Knowing Snape, they could safely assume that he would know every use of every ingredient in his cupboards.

"What I want to know is which one of you needs the healing potion but doesn't want to go to the Hospital Wing. This whole incident could have easily been avoided."

Calla kept her eyes focused on Snape. None of them said a word.

"Then, I suppose none of you will mind three more hours of labor. Get to it."

Hermione and Ron sighed before turning to Calla.

"He'd only advertise it if he found out," Calla murmured. She didn't notice the shimmer of something large and solid to her left.

"You're right," Ron agreed. "He wouldn't care, not really."

The three of them went back to scrubbing. Ron continued to do most of the work. The invisible figure silently stalked away.

"On the bright side, I found the spells use for diagnosing patients that mediwitches use. I think we should use it tomorrow night, if that's all right."

Calla nodded in agreement. "You realize, if it's true, Hermione, we have to stop it."

Hermione and Ron gasped, "What?"

Calla lowered her head. "I can't do this, guys. Not while I have to fight Voldemort. Or do" she waved her hands at the cauldrons and cleaning astringents, "this. It has to be taken care of. Promise me you'll not turn me in."

Ron and Hermione tensed awkwardly, unsure of if they could carry out such a promise.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own _Harry Potter_.

Thanks for the reviews! They made me want to start working on this today. :)

Chapter Six

"You mean abort it? Calla, that's not acceptable even in the wizardring world. We could get in serious trouble if you did that without a mediwitch. Let alone all the other injuries, it could be dangerous." Hermione's brown eyes searched Calla's face for agreement, and then lowered when she found none.

"The wizardring world will go crazy if they find out that the Saviour of their world got bested by a bunch of muggles with a riding crop, Hermione! That's all Voldemort needs to convince people to believe what he's been saying about muggles." At that moment, she cringed as her scar burned, almost as if Voldemort was listening and had agreed. Calla cleared her mind. "We can't let anyone find out. We can just use the Bleeding Poppy, and no harm will be done."

Ron slumped forward in his chair. "I dunno, Calla. I think Hermione's right, you need to see a teacher."

Calla seethed, "That would not solve anything. They would just fuss. Let's just see what the spell says and then decide."

Hermione's lips were in a hard line as she tugged a roll of parchment out of her bag. She stood over Calla with the parchment in her left hand, and swept her wand over Calla from her head to her feet several times. Sometimes her breath would hitch, but otherwise she said nothing.

"Calla, this isn't good. I don't think you'd be able to fight Voldemort like this," Hermione ran a finger through Calla's hair. "Take a look."

Ron watched from the sofa, hunched over and busying himself by pulling at his short facial hairs. "You are, aren't you?" he finally said as Calla's complexion drained. "I'll kill 'em. I swear, if I ever see any of your damned relatives, I'll kill 'em."

Calla leaned weakly against the arms of her chair as she read the list. Broken ribs, a few fractured bones, dehydration, malnourished, a few infections. Nothing that struck her as anything especially horrific, until the last part. _Pregnant female-first trimester_.

The three of them stayed together in the common room. Ron and Hermione watched as Calla slowly fell asleep in front of the fireplace before crossing the room. They stared out the window to watch random clouds skirt about the lake.

"We have to tell someone, Ron," Hermione breathed. "With all those injuries, it's too dangerous for her to attempt anything...drastic."

Ron nodded, nervously wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "I know, 'Mione. We'll keep an eye on her, you know. A cousin of mine was attacked once, she tried to do herself in. I wasn't close to her, but everyone in the family was shocked. "

"Surely Calla won't kill herself, Ronald."

Ron squeezed her shoulder. "Nah, but just to be safe."

_Calla shivered as Voldemort approached her. But she wasn't herself._

_"Tut tut tut. You need to tell me what I want to know, Ollivander. It would not do to end up as a pile of meat outside your store, would it not?"_

_"Please, please," words whimpered from her mouth, "I don't know anything. I know nothing of the elder wand!"_

_Voldemort laughed, but it came out as a hiss. Calla screamed in agony as she was hit with a Crucio. What is the elder wand?_

_"Sir," another voice wafted in through the farther chamber. "My Lord, we have a visitor."_

_Voldemort whirled around, and Calla could see a small girl approaching them. _

_"What is it, Nadia?" Voldemort hissed in Parseltongue._

_"Your favorite servant has arrived, Severus is coming."_

_Calla writhed in hatred as Nadia stepped aside and the spot was filled with Snape. _

_"My favorite servant," Voldemort held out a pallid hand. Snape bent to his knees and kissed it._

_"My Lord, I have come as you wished."_

_"Yesss, now. Tell me what you have learned."_

_Snape's black eyes glittered and he smiled, toothily. "I believe Calla is growing too weak to keep you out of her mind. Soon, she will succumb. As for the old man, he has planned an Order meeting in two weeks. Everyone will be careful except for, ah, certain scoundrel. I will interrogate him soon."_

_"And the Dumbledore's health?"_

_"He is fine. However, he is still getting older the longer we fight."_

_Calla breathed a sigh of relief, but gagged. The action caught the attention of the three within the room. Quickly, she fled to the back of Ollivander's mind, and broke the connection._

She awoke shaking on the common room floor. Hermione and Ron were curled up on the couch, spooning. She rubbed her temples and relaxed. So Snape had convinced Voldemort that Dumbledore was in perfect health. She snickered, how kind of him. Sitting back, she observed her two friends. After a few minutes of daydreaming, she stood to go to the bathroom. It was then that their emotions hit her, forcefully. Uncertainty. Ron and Hermione were uncertain. The emotion made Calla's insides grow heavy, and she felt faint. She had never done this before. _This is how Dumbledore always knows_, she realized weakly. She pulled herself away from their sleeping bodies and hurried to the toilet. She poked her stomach, wondering if Voldemort would laugh if he had to fight a pregnant teenager when the time come. She wondered if Snape would let her skip the difficult potions when it started to show, but she shook that hope away. He would practically bathe her in his poisons if it meant getting one up on her father's grandchild.

She rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. She needed to go get the poppy the next day.

Three weeks passed, as well as the Order meeting. The only thing to come of it was a list of compromised Ministry officials, Snape's report on secret Death Eater activities, and Lupin's report from a werewolf clan. The trio didn't get to hear any of it though, as they were trapped in Hogwarts. Neither had Calla been able to go to the forest and reclaim her forbidden plant. Every time she tried, something or someone would happen and she would be forced to sit in Gryffindor Tower idly.

Hogwarts grounds was getting colder by the time she managed to make her way to the hiding spot. As she neared her, a lump rose in her throat. Her eyes scanned the ground wearily, but there was no hint of red anywhere in the fallen leaves and grass. The bush that had protected it was empty. Calla laughed coldly. She knew it wasn't a good enough spot when she had been forced to put it there. She had planned on getting it inside the castle. She covered her face and stomped the ground, grinding her teeth and cursing. Her scar tingled.

"I fucking hate you!" She screamed, pointing at the trees, as if they were the various faces floating through her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, clamped her hands over her ears, and squatted. She sobbed dryly as the face of Piers came into her mind. _His eyes glittered hatefully, as always, and he sneered down his nose at her. His growing lank hair swept across her nose, and she searched for Dudley, hoping he would help. When she looked back, Piers was gone. Instead, she was being assaulted in the face by greasy, black-_

Calla fell sideways, willing the image of Snape's sneering face away. She grasped the grass infront on her and pulled, wrenching her pain as much as she could and shoving it somewhere dark. _Of course_, she thought. _He's a spy for the Order. Doing all sorts of things for that-that wizard GANG. He just, well he just. He's probably done it. He's a, he's just like them_. Calla wept as the notion that she was supposed to go to his class smothered her. _He would stand over her, like Piers. He would touch her, and try to hurt her. All his students would laugh, that bastard Draco would laugh just like Dudley_. Calla seethed angrily, wanting the feelings of hurt to go away. However, they didn't. As she finally shuffled to the dungeons, her face was contorted in rage. It wasn't until she was standing outside the lab door that it relaxed to its usual, bored-looking state.

Calla had never sat through a potions class like that one before. She was suddenly aware of every smell and every color. She could recognize every pillow of smoke snaking around their heads. Her entire concentration was bent on one thing. She wanted to make her potion perfect. She didn't want to give Snape a single reason to approach her, to touch her. All she thought of when she thought of him was Piers, and if he was just as cruel to her in his mind as Piers was to her in the Dursley's backyard.


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own _Harry Potter_, *sob.*

Reviews are not necessary, but they are really appreciated. They help me know that I'm moving in the right direction. That, and I don't let people see my writing very often so input from others is great.

Just to let you know, Calla and Snape were meant to go sha-bang from the start. I often read Snape slash, and I hadn't found one like this. Mary Sue is not intended, but if it comes off that way I apologize.

Chapter Seven

Calla poked at her ham. She was sitting with the Quidditch team, which she, Ron, and Ginny were still unsure about. The Quidditch days of her first three years came to mind, and her stomach gave a jolt. After a two year haitus and the graduation of the school's best players, Calla thought Quidditch's best days were over.

Ron and Ginny squirmed in discomfort as the new chasers and beaters sat in stone silence. The Hufflepuffs weren't too depressed, as Ron had overheard Sprout telling Prompfrey how much she looked forward to seeing their new chasers and seeker.

Calla sighed and gave up the ham, reaching instead for a chocolate frog.

"Nervous you'll be knocked off your broom, Potter?" Draco drawled as he passed by.

Calla sneered at him, avoiding Hermione's worrisome frown.

"You know it'll get harder to fly like this," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "And you'll start to show."

Calla grinned, patting her stomach in small strokes. "Then I guess I'm happy I didn't get fed much over the summer, else I'd become a balloon before we got it over with."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and stared daggers at Calla.

The Quidditch team stood and departed before Hermione could come up with a comeback.

The sky was clear and blue except for the occasional gray cloud. Calla circled the pitch three times looking for Dumbledore, but he was nowhere to be seen. There was a box full of ministry officials, parents and the like, and a few mysterious characters dotted here and there. Calla figured they wouldn't try to attack her while she flew above a couple hundred students' heads. She was making her fourth circle when she spotted Snape sitting with McGonagall and Sprout. A little girl with long brown hair sat next to him.

_Swoosh_. Calla swirved to a halt, blinking violently. The girl was gone. Her mind swam, and panicking she flew back to the stands where Hermione was perched.

"Hermione," she breathed, "keep your eyes glued to Snape, and watch for a girl about eight years old with long, brown hair."

"What?"

"Hermione, just do it. She was with Voldemort, you need to watch them!"

Hermione looked flustered, and cried, "Calla!" as the whistle for everyone to line up sounded. Calla rushed back to the center of the pitch and lined up.

Calla had a hard time concentrating on the snitch as she circled the pitch. The little girl didn't show herself again, and Snape looked unconcerned. What is she? Calla wondered. It wasn't possible she was completely human. Calla shook her head. There's no way in hell a little girl would stay with that-those-monsters. Calla made up her mind just as a golden glitter caught the corner of her eye. She spun lazily, moving on instinct. She would find out who the little girl was and why she was following Snape. Calla had cornered the snitch and was about to grab it, when her abdomen erupted in pain.

"UGH!" She finally cried, doubling over. Her heart stung as more pain hit her in the side.

"HUFFLEPUFF WINS!" was cried across the pitch befor Calla knew what was happening.

Ron's arm was wrapped around Calla. "You okay?"

Calla gasped against the surge of pain hitting her. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go. I'm gonna go."

Ron flew beside Calla back to Hermione. "Get her to the Hospital Wing."

"NO!" Calla pushed them off, but recoiled as pain hit her again.

"Did you see the girl? Where is Snape?"

Hermione looked flustered. "I haven't seen a girl. Let's get off the pitch before someone sees you."

Hermione pulled Calla away just as Snape turned the corner of the box.

"Weasley, where is Potter? She was acting cursed."

Ron's ears turned red, "Oh, um, no, sir. She's not cursed. She's just-you know."

Snape looked infuriated, "No, Weasley, I do not know."

Ron shuffled his feet, leaning awkwardly on his broom. "It's a female thing," he said in a hushed voice, leaning forward.

Snape snarled, "There is nothing about the female anatomy that makes a girl act like she has been cursed."

Ron raised his eyebrows, "Well, just don't worry about it, sir." Ron whirled around and flew away before Snape could stop him.

Snape stood there fuming before turning on his heel and returning to the dungeons.

Hermione helped Calla into the prefects bathroom.

"I'll be fine from here," she said weakly.

"Call my name if you need me."

Calla nodded and shut the door. She used the bathroom painfully, squirming as her sides throbbed. Was she too damaged to be playing Quidditch?

Calla filled the giant bathtub with water and foam. She pulled out her toiletries and set them beside the tub before climbing in. The mermaid on the wall turned her nose up at her. She washed her hair quickly before putting it up and sitting back.

"Hi there," a voice whispered.

Calla started violently, sending bubbles and her soap skidding across the marble floor. Demonic giggling filled the air, and Calla's blood went cold.

"The bloody poppy is in the dungeons. First shelf on the left, underneath the frozen swamp flies."

"Who are you?" Calla cried, covering her chest with her arms. She frowned unhappily. As if that helped. Granted she wasn't very big, her small arms didn't do much to cover her, much less hide all the bruises and cuts covering her.

"I'm just a visitor."

"You shouldn't be here," Calla said cautiously. "Does Snape know?"

"What?"

Calla took a step back. She didn't want this thing to know about her vision. "I saw you earlier on the pitch. You were practically in his lap."

The voice laughed coldly now. "I was entertaining you. What he knows doesn't matter. I just wanted to help you before he comes."

"What?" Calla murmered, frozen.

The portrait swung open and Snape stepped in, Hermione sobbing closely behind.

"What the devil is going on here, only prefects are allowed in here!"

"I told you we got permission!" Hermione cried.

Calla turned away from the two of them, and sank as far as she could. "Hermione, what do you mean?"

Hermione grabbed a piece of paper from her pocket and shoved it under Snape's nose. He looked at it disdainfully.

Calla breathed slowly. "You haven't any right to be here," she snarled.

Snape fumed and approached the side of the tub. "I am here to tell you that you have been ordered to the infirmary. You have shown signs of being cursed," he stopped snarling.

Calla's neck was bent, showing the bandage that Hermione had put there. It was covered in blood, and below it sat bruises and rough whip lashes that ran down her back.

Snape breathed for a minute before hissing, "What is this?"

Calla's eyes widened. "What?"

"Your back, Miss Potter. And your neck. What happened?"

"None of your damn business!" She snarled. "You have no right to ask!"

Snape curled his lip but turned. "Fine. It will be up to you, Miss Granger, to get this idiot to the infirmary." He swept away, but not before he saw Calla turn and reveal a fleshy portion of her he wasn't prepared to see. He clenched his fists as a giggling followed him out of the bathroom, and his pants became too tight.

"What the hell was he doing here?" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

Calla seethed. "It's that thing. The little girl I saw, 'Mione. In that vision with Ollivander, there was that little girl. I don't think she's a little girl though."

"Did he call her anything?"

"Nadia. He called her Nadia."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own _Harry Potter_. I also do not own the wonderful Emilie Autumn's "Miss Lucy had some Leeches," which I decided to use as a creative way to separate Calla's flashback.

Katrina and Aliss: I can't message you so here's my thanks. I appreciate what you said, and your reviews have been very encouraging. :)

Chapter Eight

Ron fidgeted over Calla and Hermione's heads as he stood over them in McGonagall's office.

"Now, you three have been suspiciously quiet this year. Tell me," the stern woman gazed at Hermione over her glasses. "have you heard anything about You-Know-Who?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, Professor. No one has told us anything and Calla isn't seeing Voldemort in her dreams that much anymore."

"Really?" McGonagall turned to face Calla. "Did you fully learn Occlumency?"

Calla squirmed. "Not really," she was telling the truth. She couldn't protect herself completely. "Snape was really disappointed with my skills. I think he's lost interest at the time being, seeing as how badly things turned out last spring."

McGonagall nodded stiffly. "But you can do it a little?"

Calla made a face, "um..."

"Does Professor Snape know this? Even it's just a little, it's helpful, Miss. Potter."

Calla shrugged, "No, ma'am. He thinks I'm as bad they get. Which is a good thing. Professor, I'm just not good at it. I'm lucky that I hid what I did because he didn't think it existed. That's the only reason, to be honest."

Ron coughed awkwardly, twisting in his spot.

"Do stop fidgeting, Mr. Weasley," McGonagall snapped.

"Sorry, ma'am."

"All right. I just wanted to make sure you three, especially you, Miss Potter, were fairing well. Dumbledore also wanted to know-"

"Dumbledore?" Calla asked. "Is he here? Can I speak with him?"

McGonagall frowned, "I'm sorry Miss Potter. The Headmaster refuses to see anyone at the moment. I'm sure you know why."

Miss Lucy had some leeches Her leeches liked to suck And when they drank up all her blood She didn't give a Funny when the doctors Had locked her in her cell Miss Lucy screamed all night

_Petunia pulled Calla out of the shed, across the lawn, and to the bathroom. _

_"Dress," she hissed. "That old weirdo will be here soon to pick you up. Finally, I've been waiting all summer," her voice faded down the hall. _

_Calla rushed to the bathrub and turned on the shower. There's no way Petunia was going to stop her, and she indulged herself in an abandoned bottle of Petunia's shampoo. The smell was pleasant, but the foam stung and burned her all over. She cried out as the foam slid down into the drain, carrying her blood with it. _

_"HURRY UP!_

_Calla seethed, rinsing herself off the best she could before drying off and getting dressed in her school robes. _

_When she reached the bottom stair, it's creak harmonized with a resounding pop! She peered around the hallway and into the living room, surprised to see Dumbledore there._

_She sat in silence as he sat across from the Dursleys, who were squeezed into the same loveseat and looked positively sickened. _

_"I appreciate you taking in young Calla when she was an infant, and raising her," Dumbledore offered them tea and biscuits which they declined. Its tray was floating on a thin cloud before them, so Calla wasn't surprised. "However, I am severely disappointed that you have mistreated her the way you have." The Dursleys eyes widened in horror, clearly expecting to be turned into worms or something or other. _

_Calla's throat went dry as he said something about being malnourished at the Sorting Ceremony, and exhaled in relief. The Dursleys had as well, but remained too terrified of Dumbledore to fix cold stares at Calla. _

_They left with cold and swift goodbyes, and then they apparated. Calla wretched when they arrived in the Weasley's shed. As long as it isn't the floo, she thought. She still couldn't shake her discomfort though. _

_"I need to show you something, Calla," Dumbledore said urgently. "See this?"_

_Calla looked down as Dumbledore pulled of a glove to reveal a black, decimated arm and hand._

_"Dumbledore! Aren't you in pain?" _

_"Calla, listen. See this ring?"_

_Calla peered down at the shiny ring, _

_"It is, I believe, important in defeating Tom. There are several more things that I must find, and information that must be collected. Certain members of the order have volunteered to help with this ordeal."_

_"Why, Professor? I can help!"_

_"No, no." Dumbledore waved his hand. "There is something you must do at Hogwarts. There is something there you must help me find, but you won't be able to do it if I distract you. This is the last time we will speak for a while, Calla."_

_"But, Dumbledore,"_

_Dumbledore stopped to gaze down at her sadly. She pried her gaze from his withered limb and fixed it on his eyes. _

_"I am sorry, Calla, that they have left you like this."_

_She bit her lip, uncertain of him or what she was supposed to do. Was the Chosen One supposed to just sit at Hogwarts and do nothing? "Dumbledore-"_

_pop. _

_Calla sighed. Wondering when she'd see Dumbledore again, she left the small shed and went the Burrow._

Should go to bloody Hello to the surgeon With scalpel old and blunt He'll tie you to the table Then he'll mutilate your Come it's nearly teatime The lunatics arrive The keepers bleed them all until

McGonagall's mouth turned in what she was hoping to be a comforting smile. The three Gryffindors squirmed beneath it. "I'm sorry, you three. But as that was all, I must ask you to return to what you were doing. Lots of paperwork." She waved at an enormous stack that threatened to knock off Hermione's head. "Have a gingersnap before you go."

She pushed the jar toward them and nodded at it. They grabbed several pieces before leaving.

"Dumbledore's in trouble," Ron said as they climbed the tower. "Why else would he be hiding?"

"Ron, he's probably just doing paperwork. The Ministry is no doubt haggling him. Didn't you see the stamps on all those papers and envelopes in McGonagall's office? They were all Ministry. I'd bet they're trying to push Dumbledore and McGonagall out of the way so that someone loyal to that Death Eater can take over the school."

Calla said," Or someone like Umbridge."

Ron laughed, "Yeah, because there's no way in Merlin she's going to come back herself. I wonder if the centaurs really let her have it."

Hermione smiled, which frightened them. "Maybe they did."

Calla and Ron laughed, albeit nervously. "Who knew Hermione could be so sadist?"

"It's not sadist, Ron. She was cruel."

"Whatever, 'Mione." Ron grinned and elbowed Calla's arm, winking. They collapsed in the common room in their favorite chairs facing the fire.

"I wish the floo still worked," Calla sighed, pulling at random, tangled strands and split ends. "I would really like to fire call Sirius right now."

"The Ministry's never going to let us communicate with the outside world now. Not that I don't mind sometimes," Ron added. "Merlin knows how many cursed letters and howlers we'd get."

"And besides that," Hermione interjected. "I think Sirius went with Remus on Order business. I doubt he'd be at home."

"You're right," Calla yawned, stretching. "Still, it would be nice. He makes me laugh."

"Well if it's a laugh you need, there's always Gred and Forge."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I wonder when people will stop finding that amusing."

Ron laughed, "The world could freeze over, Voldemort control the entire planet, and the Weasley Wizard Wheezes will still be the most brilliant thing. Ever."

"I didn't know you supported your brothers so much, Ron."

Ron's ears turned pink as he smiled, "Yeah, well, they let me have some of their stuff for free."

"Do I want to know?" Calla asked amused.

Ron chuckled, "No, not really."

The two girls shared a bemused stare, smirking much to Ron's delight and discomfort, before returning to their book and thoughts.

Calla sighed, her hand subconsciously going to her stomach. The fear that holding this secret from Dumbledore was a bad thing had latched itself upon her mind. Since their visit to McGonagall, she feared what would happen if she didn't end it soon, or if something happened before she got the chance. And then the sinking feeling hit her heart, what if having the baby could be a good thing? Something to live for after Voldemort was gone? Calla swallowed and removed her hand from herself. The poppy was still in the dungeons. She just needed the oppurtunity to take it.

TBC

* * *

Review, if you please. :D Though it's not necessary, it's appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Harry Potter.

Magically Inclined: Thank you for your review! You're quite right about Snape not being to kind about the whole matter. In reality, I don't think he would be. Immediately, he would take it as a way to put down James Potter for having a pregnant teenage daughter.

Chapter Nine

Calla's head slipped down her hand as Binns droned tonelessy. She wondered if he really had just passed away, and hadn't been murdered by some hopeful Gryffindor desperate to be rid of his voice. She smiled at the idea, amused. Hermione was ignoring her, entranced by the tale Binns was telling in the most pedestrian pitch he could muster.

Ron had pulled most of the class into a game involving some of the Weasley Wheezes, and Binns never pulled his attention from his book (who set those out for him anyway?) to see yellow canary feathers erupt throughout the room.

"Really, Ronald," Hermione snarled as they left. "Was it necessary to act like that? You could show him a little respect."

"Oh, c'mon, 'Mione," Ron whined. "He never knows what's goin' on anyway. There could be a dragon sitting on him and he'd never know!"

The three filed into the Great Hall, acknowledging Ron's correct assumption.

"Maybe one day you can teach History, Hermione," Calla suggested.

Hermione blushed, "Actually, I want to continue my work with S.P.E.W."

Ron rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Calla watched them leave for their own classes. She had decided to try to get the Bloody Poppy today. Maybe she could get in and out before Snape noticed his wards were triggered. She wound lose thread around her fingers. What if he caught her with it? Would he know why she wanted it?

Shaking her head, she grabbed her bag and headed toward the dungeons. She had to atleast try, but the fear of what Nadia might be up to nagged her. Nadia reminded her of the basilisk, and she hoped that Nadia wasn't talking to her in parseltongue. Blinking as her eyes adjusted themselves to the dungeon's dreariness, she crept quietly as possible for five feet before casting a charm on her shoes.

"Oh, those filthy brats 'er gonna get it now," Filch growled at Mrs. Norris. He was dragging a large, ugly looking bag behind him. It reminded Calla of the nasty school uniform Petunia had tried to dye for her. "Al-the-ways messing up my work, those _rats_!"

Calla pressed herself as close to the wall as possible as Filch and his cat prowled past her. His whining and groaning went on until he passed through a door at the end of the corridor. Calla breathed in relief.

She moved quickly, rushing to the lab before Snape returned from his patrol around the library. The lab was dark and still smelled of smoke and jasmine from the last class. Trying not to inhale the strong smoke prodding her at all sides, Calla leapt across the lab and flung herself into the cupboard.

The Bloody Poppy's silver pollen glittered like ice against the now deeply hued bloom. It stuck out against the other, now minced, blossoms. Why was her's still whole? It had been several weeks since it had disappeared. Calla pulled it down, removing it from its basket, and held it in her palm. The petals were thick and long, spreading wider than the palm of her hand, and she lifted her left one to help hold it still. The center of it, red still and overlapping with petals, wept silver bits and held a few stiff strings that curled out onto the petals. She stared at it entranced. Now that she had it, her stomach tightened. It was beautiful. Her mind raced worriedly, could she do it?

"Hello."

"HUH?" Calla squealed, turning sharply into the shelf and bumping her back. She swore as her shoulder and elbow collided a sharp edge and panged.

"It's nice to see you again." A brown-haired girl made herself visible. She held a large, silver dipper full of something Calla couldn't make out. She put up to her lips and sipped pretentiously.

"Who are you?" Calla hummed, her breath still haggard from the sharp pains in her elbow and side.

"I'm called Ruby," Nadia lied. Her big, brown eyes seemed to darken.

Calla swept her gaze back to the poppy, more out of her discomfort of holding Nadia's gaze than anything. In seconds, her eyes became as pitless as Snape's. The color never changed. "I see you can make yourself invisible. That's a neat trick." Calla fingered the curled petals.

"Yes," Nadia answered silkily, "it is. My father showed me how."

Calla nodded, showing her impression, "Wow, that's really cool."

Nadia grinned. "Professor Snape still has your cloak. I've seen it. Do you want it?"

Calla cleared her throat. "Um...actually," she thought about it. It would be awesome to get it back, but she could all-to-clearly make out Snape's livid face. "But no thanks." she quickly declined. "Snape would kill me if he found out."

Nadia's eyes laughed, Calla could see it out of the corner of her eye. Her blood went cold.

"All right then. Good luck with that, by the way."

Calla's head snapped up, and choked. Nadia's smile had grown wider, too wide for a normal human mouth. Her eyes were laughing still, but they still appeared to be empty of life.

"W-w-what?"

Nadia giggled, "I can see it. But don't worry," Nadia hissed, "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"W-w-wait," Calla gasped. "What do you mean you can see it?"

Nadia cocked her head. "I visited you the other night and I could tell. I considered just visiting your Granger friend, but then I realized what you were going to do. Oh, and do be quick about it. I'm afraid he'll throw me out if I have to do that again."

Calla snarled, "What are you?"

Nadia snickered, saying nothing. She turned and faded back into the wall.

Calla panicked, her meeting with Nadia freaking her out too much for her to stay alone in the lab. Hurriedly, she stuffed the plant into her bag and sped from the dungeons.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own _Harry Potter_.

Chapter Ten

Calla sipped her tea quietly, watching the bloody poppy with suspicious eyes. She had wanted to use it quickly, but now she couldn't see how she could.

"You can't use it," Hermione carried on. They had been sitting in Myrtle's bathroom sipping tea for two hours. They had discussed and weighed every pro and con they could think of, but now Calla saw nothing but uncertainty.

"THEN WHAT THE HELL DO I DO, HERMIONE?" Calla roared, lashing out when Hermione hissed, "_it could kill you_."

Hermione recoiled. "Don't talk that way to me, Calla. I'm trying to help you, and you have no right to yell like that."

She was right. As usual. Calla felt sick with herself, and wicked for having treated Hermione so badly. Still, the fire within her burned. She dared not look up at Hermione again, lest she shout once more.

Hermione clinked the portable tea set and its silver around, rinsing cups and things in the sink. "Perhaps...perhaps you should just go to Promfrey. Tell her not to say anything. I'm sure...I'm sure she'll understand."

Calla hummed into her thumb, biting her nail nervously. "Hold on," she sighed. She went into a stall and relieved her bladder for the fifty-second time that day.

"Expecto patronum!"

Calla winced as she heard Hermione summon her patronus, well aware of their unique uses.

"Don't do it, Hermione!" Calla screamed. "Don't do it until I say so! Please!"

Hermione sniffed, watching the otter on the floor stare sweetly up at her. "You need help. This is the only way if you really want it done with."

Calla snarled, "No, bitch! Get out!" She flushed the toilet and stomped out of the stall. "Just get out. You don't understand how badly I don't want anyone finding out about my-"

"You're pregnant, Calla! You can do this to yourself! Please, let me help."

Calla was shaking, unaware of Myrtle slinking out of her toilet and poking her head around the stall.

"You d-d-don't u-understand, H-H-Hermione, he'll kill it. A-a-and they-they w-w-w-will know. They'll know about Dudley's gang!"

Hermione looked flush, trying not to start sobbing as well. She had just managed to grab Calla and pull her into an embrace when Calla cried out, clutching herself.

"What's wrong?" Hermione choked.

Calla hissed, falling forward. "My side, it hurts. Oh my God, it hurts."

"Hold on, Calla!" Hermione turned to her patronus, but Myrtle had all ready fled the restroom, balefully moaning the death of the Chosen One. Her screams caught the attention of a small crowd, and Hermione quickly found herself trying to support and hide Calla from prying eyes.

"What is this?" Snape drawled, separating two sneering Ravenclaws. "Seeking attention, Granger?"

Granger cleared her throat. "No, sir."

Calla watched wearily at Hermione's side. The group thought they had been in a cat fight. They snickered, sure that Hermione had almost made Calla Myrtle's new restroom-mate.

"You will explain." Snape sneered. "I am tired of the two of you finding trouble to attract attention. I assure you, it is old. Twenty points from Gryffindor for misbehaviour."

Hermione opened and closed her mouth. "Sir, Calla is-"

Calla elbowed her in the side. "Tired. Just tired, sir."

Hermione sighed.

Snape wrinkled his nose, and then, curling his lip, "I do not care. Get out of my sight."

Calla made for the door, unwilling to point out that they were in the girls' restroom. She wrapped her arm around Hermione's waist and made to go. She stopped wincing. Her hand automatically went to her side. "I don't feel well," she murmured quietly.

Hermione breathed heavily through her nose. Snape watched them curiously.

"What is the matter, you prat?" he spat at Calla coldly. His black eyes shined oddly, and Calla could almost imagine she saw her reflection in them. That was gone in seconds, and instead she lifted her eyes up to the window where Myrtle was perched.

"Nothing, sir," she said hopefully. "Nothing, it's just a Quidditch injury."

"I do not care what it is, go to the infirmary like I told you to do earlier."

Calla turned on her heel worriedly.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

He was around too much. She had gotten used to him sweeping around the castle all the time, bent on causing everyone hell. This year, he was following her too much. He was showing up in too many places, to many bathrooms, for her to find coincidence in his prescence. Nadia, holding her silver dipping cup, rushed to her mind. The little girl's mouth widened, and her eyes darkened. She was leading him to her. _But,_ Calla's breath hitched, _why?_

Snape was watching her. Calla could feel his emotionless eyes glued to the back of her head. When she turned around on the bench to face him, he didn't drop his gaze. _You bastard_, she seethed. Still, a strange feeling leaked down her throat. What was that look he had?

She turned back around after he looked at the other side of the Great Hall, but a minute later that heated stare returned. He looked more pallid than he had in weeks. Calla pushed her food around her plate nervously before reaching for the mustard. She didn't look at him again until everyone else pointed it out, and wished she hadn't. He was livid.

"Did ole Snape just get told his mother was a toad?" Dean Thomas whispered.

They all tried to inadvertently catch a glimpse of the irate potions master.

"Calla," Ron murmured. "he's watching you."

Calla put her cup of pickle juice down. "I know." she grabbed the barbecue plate. "I can feel it."

"Ugh gross," Neville wheezed, watching Calla drink the pickle juice. She had no idea where it had come from. Fear dawned on her and she slammed it down. "What the hell have I been drinking?"

Hermione looked terrified, both that Calla was having cravings and Snape looked murderous.

"Let's get out of here." She pulled herself up and led the trio out of the Great Hall. "We need to be more careful. Snape looked like he was going to-"

"POTTER!"

The three jumped and ran for the staircase.

"STOP THIS INSTANT!"

Calla squeaked and fell sideways as Peeves pushed past them and blew raspberries.

"Peeves!" Ron groaned. Seconds later, screams flooded out of the Great Hall doors and into the entrance hall.

"You-you will come with me," Snape growled. He grabbed Calla's arm.

"But, sir!" The three said at once.

Hermione was the first to recover from under his seething rage. "W-we w-were just going back to our dorm to finish our homework. She has to come."

Snape narrowed his pitless eyes, "She is coming with me. If Potter wanted her homework done earlier, she should have devoted her free time to it. Now leave us."

Calla paled as they slowly climbed away backwards, worry and fear painted obvously across their faces.

"GO!"

They turned and tore away from Snape, leaving Calla alone. She looked up at him through her hair, and saw something in Snape's eyes stir.

"Come," he said emotionlessly. "Hurry, unlike certain _celebrities_, I don't have all the time in the world."

Calla wished McGonagall was nearby. Seeing no way out of it, she turned and followed him. Her throat seemed to close shut as she walked almost beside him. He never let go of her arm, and as they neared the first landing, she squirmed. She started as he raised his eyebrows and pulled her closer, but loosened his grip. As they neared his office, she imagined every step was like every line she had drawn into her hand with the blood quill. She looked down at the scar._ Or depending on how this all ends_, she thought, _this could be worse_.

Tea for those that review! :D


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Calla watched Snape from the other side of his desk. He did not look happy at all. Calla hoped Snape would end this quickly. He was staring her as if she were a bug.

"I have realized that something is amiss, Miss Potter," Snape said smoothly.

Calla squirmed. She didn't like any of this, and something cold flashed by her. Nadia.

"And what would that be?"

"Insolence, Miss Potter. It is a shame you never had parents to teach you manners."

Calla seethed.

"I wanted to inform you that I have approached Prompfrey. You are expected in the Hospital Wing tomorrow evening."

Calla groaned. "Why? There's nothing going on, I swear."

Snape growled, "Do not think I am so easily fooled, I am not. I can see clearly the signs of a curse. You will go to the infirmary."

Calla narrowed her eyes, choosing to remain silent.

Snape sneered, "Unless you want the Dark Lord winning the war, you should do as you are told. Here." he pushed a vial across his desk. "If you start shaking uncontrollably, drink this."

Calla was taken aback, "Shaking? Sir, has someone tried to curse me?"

Snape furrowed his brows, "I'm sure you would be dead by now if they had been successful. Give me your hand."

Calla failed to hide her distaste as she held out her hand, noticing Snape's smirk when he saw the blood quill scar. He muttered something she didn't understand and looked surprise. "Well, it seems the Brat-that-Lived managed to avoid getting cursed afterall."

Calla leaned in, wanting an explanation, but Snape spat, "Leave."

Not wanting to risk losing points from Gryffindor, Calla fled.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Hermione and Ron perused their books quietly.

"Snape's been weird, hasn't he?" Ron asked.

Hermione made a noise. "Oh, I don't know, Ron. He's probably just concerned that Calla's cursed or something."

Ron scratched his chest and yawned, "Wonder who would've done it. Draco maybe?"

Hermione nodded, "Maybe." She gasped as the next page of her book settled. "Ron! I've found it!"

Ron leaned forward. "That's the name! But that's not a girl, that an old woman!" he laughed, seeing the knob-nosed witch glaring up at him. A shiny, silver dipper was held up to her old, chapped lips. "That's disgusting!" he groaned.

Hermione shivered, wary of what was following Snape. "I guess we know who's cursed then."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Calla fell over the Gryffindor pillows strewn about the floor, dropped her pie, and cursed noisily.

"What the blazes are you doing, child?" a portrait cried, flinging her kerchief.

"Nothing!" Calla cleaned up her mess and hurried to the dorm.

Hermione was in the bathroom, so Calla sat on her bed. It was still covered in partially done homework, random candy wrappers, and unread books. Calla sighed, wondering if Hermione would finally give in and just write one essay for her. She doubted it. Although she and Hermione were close, the young scholar always insisted that Calla do her own work. Most mornings found her and Ron trying to sneak ideas off Hermione's essays.

When Hermione entered she approached Calla carefully. "I've found what Nadia is."

Calla jumped, "Really? What is she?"

Hermione looked sick as she pulled the big, brown book off the stack beside her bed. "You're not going to like it. I doubt Snape does as well. In fact, Ron and I think that's why he's been watching you."

Calla watched Hermione turn the pages to the one with an old woman with a dipping cup held to her lips. The illustration was unpleasant to look at, as well as the ones on the next page. Calla's breath stopped.

"She's a succubus."

Hermione looked faint.

"There's only one reason why Voldemort would want a succubus," Hermione explained weakly. "And if Snape's watching you-"

"Voldemort's trying to make me-" Calla felt sick. She dropped the book and ran to the bathroom. She didn't make it to the toilet before she wretched.

"Calla!" Hermione held Calla's hair back. Her brown eyes glittered with some hope. "He can't do it as long as your pregnant, Calla. For now, your safe."

Calla shook, breathing in the coconut scent of Hermione's hair.

"So I can't end it, then," she muttered.

Hermione shook with anxiety. "I'm sorry. I really am."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Snape stood outside the infirmary, glaring, as the trio knew he would. He sneered down at them. "I'm glad you three developed some sense on the matter."

They stared at him witheringly, which he deducted five points for, before entering the infirmary.

Prompfrey died with disgust when she finally managed to examine Calla's injuries, crying, "You ridiculous children! You should have come here immediately!"

Snape watched through the window for fifteen minutes before Prompfrey's rattling attracted his attention too much for him to remain there.

"I'm telling Dumbledore now," the mediwitch ranted, "how dare those muggles do this-I'll curse them myself-"

Calla paled fearfully as Snape sneered over them.

"My, my," he drawled. "Being punished by muggles? Whatever shall we do."

Prompfrey turned and became scarlet. "You have NO idea the atrocities they have inflicted on Miss Potter so silence your insufferable mouth this instant!"

Snape glowered down at her, but the witch remained firm.

"In fact, you can be the one to go inform Dumbledore," she hissed his name, "that our young Saviour is pregnant-"

Ron, Hermione, and Calla recoiled as Snape's face drained of color and he gaped fearfully.

"-with that twisted muggle's child!"

Snape blinked. Calla's blood was icy, but she quickly felt her heart grow hotter and sting when Snape finally recovered.

"Very well," he smirked. "I would be happy to tell the Headmaster that his favorite Gryffindor is paying for her, no doubt, exploits of the summer." He turned to leave, but Calla called his name before he did.

"You don't know anything," she snarled, but her stomach was too anxious to really carry on the fight.

Snape sneered, "It appears I do. Thirty-two points from Gryffindor for refusing to abstein, Potter. I'm sure Sirius will be so proud when he finds out."

Calla paled.

"Stop!" Ron roared. "You haven't got a clue, and for what it's worth, Sirius'll kill you for talking like that when he finds out what you just said!"

Snape snarled, "I would like to see him try. Last time, he used a werewolf and it failed because his coconspirators were cowards. I assure you, I will not take your mouthing-off lightly. And besides, his friend isn't here to keep me away from your precious Lupin this time. I'm sure all I have to do is-"

SMACK.

Snape stood gobsmacked as Prompfrey's jinx hit him in the nose.

"Get out of my infirmary, Severus Snape!" she hustled him to the door. "You've no right to be here if you're going to upset my patient! Don't bother going to Dumbledore, I'm sure a house elf will do the job just fine!"

Snape watched furiously as she spelled the doors locked and shut. "Now that he's gone..." she hurried to her office.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said softly.

"He's such a jerk," Ron whispered.

Calla nodded in agreement. "Yeah. He can be."

Madam Prompfrey returned after fifteen minutes looking flustered, and carrying a tray of potions.

"I'm going to let you rest tonight, Miss Potter," she said softly. "but tomorrow you must see the Headmaster. He wants to know what has happened."

Hermione and Ron waited for them to finish before sitting on the bed.

"We'll do something, you know, to take our minds off things." Ron pulled up his bookbag. "I've got some Wheezes."

They smiled, glad that he was there. However, none of them could help but wonder what would happen the next day.

TBC

* * *

Yay, I learned how to do the ruler thing. XD

Magically Inclined: lol I want to approach his niceness the same it's approached in Harry/Snape slash. It will be soon, sooner than it would be in reality. However, a few magical accidents do seem to hurry things along from time to time. Thanks!

Aliss: Indeed, she does have a string of bad luck. Thanks for your support!


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Twelve

Calla sat on the bed squished between Hermione and Ron. The three of them were staring at the brown book Hermione had found, their eyes plastered to the wicked image of the succubus.

"They take the-stuff-from the man and then put it in a woman-"

Hermione blushed at the sight of Ron's blaching face. He wretched dryly, "I don't think I can listen to this-"

Calla cleared her throat nervously, thumbing the bedcovers. "So you think Voldemort might be trying to make an heir?"

Hermione shrugged. "For all we know, he could just want a new body and needs to share the same blood."

Ron cringed, "Breeding a body? Hermione, that's horrible."

"Not to mention right up Voldemort's alley," added Calla. "I guess I'm lucky then."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "No one is saying that."

Ron snorted, "Of course it is. In a horribly twisted sort of way, you are lucky. I doubt you were going to get pregnant just by staring at Charlie all the time."

Calla blushed, her crush on Charlie Weasley bubbling and dying painfully. She had overheard him and Molly talking on his short Christmas visit. He had made it clear that he thought of Calla as a sister.

Hermione patted her shoulder, as if to say, "You're too good for him anyway."

Pushing herself up on her pillow, Calla said, "Anyway, so Nadia said she had considered Hermione. You need to find a way to protect yourself. And we need to find out if Snape has some control over her. I think. I don't know much about this whole," she poked the book, "succubus thing."

Hermione nodded, "I brought some of my notes. Here's a copy for you, Ron. I've read that they aren't too fond of salt, and there are even some muggle suggestions. I think our best bet is simply to cast a warding charm around our beds."

Calla asked, "Should we cast them around everyone else's beds? She didn't seem interested in anyone besides us. But we can't be sure."

Ron laughed, "I would. How could Dumbledore not notice a succubus crawling around the dungeons with Snape?"

Hermione and Calla shook their heads.

"I don't know," Calla answered. "I might be able to find out."

* * *

Calla walked slowly down the corridor to the gargoyle at the end. It snorted its nose at her as she said, "Fudge flies." The gargoyle jumped aside, letting her up the spiral staircase. She climbed it nervously, feeling anxious that she was seeing Dumbledore for the first time in weeks. And that neither of them, she presumed, had good news to share.

The round room was lightly lit by sunlight filtering in through the windows. Fawkes was perched near the staircase, his head tucked peacefully under his wing. The numerous instruments scattered about the office rotated and swung in their motions dutifully, their metallic forms shining in the sunbeams. A rocking instrument that she did not understand caught a beam of light, and scattered it to the floor, illuminating dust in the air she had never noticed before.

"Calla."

Dumbledore had been sitting at his desk quietly watching. Calla swallowed nervously. Was she in trouble?

"My dear," he spoke softly. He looked ancient. For the first time in Calla's life, she saw Dumbledore as a fragile human being. He was old, indeed, but now he looked exhausted and sick.

"Professor," she approached the magnificent desk humbly. "I'm sorry about this. I'm sorry about everything."

Dumbledore waved it away. "Nonsense. It is I who is sorry. For I have a terrible task that you must undertake."

Calla swallowed. "A task? The thing you wanted me to find-you know what it is?"

Dumbledore nodded, "I will show you what I know. How Tom has managed to evade death so many times. Then, we will talk more. First, come with me."

Calla watched him stand slowly. He moved slowly around his desk, leading Calla to the pensieve. Her stomach dropped. The last time she had looked into its silvery depths, Snape had been there.

"You will see what Tom has hidden from his followers, Calla." Dumbledore stirred the contents to unsettle them. "And you must not tell anyone what you are doing."

Calla raised her eyebrows. If she was searching for something in the castle, she wasn't about to get away with it without Ron and Hermione noticing. Much less figure out what to do. Calla felt nervous. However, she lowered her face to the silver stream swimming beneath her until her nose touched the surface. With a violent tug, she was pulled down.

Two hours passed and Calla found herself sitting back infront of Dumbledore's desk. She stared down at her feet, wondering how she was ever going to find a horcrux in Hogwarts. Dumbledore had shown her memories from Morfin Gaunt. Calla felt terrible for Morope.

Dumbledore believed that there was another horcrux still hidden in the castle. He had explained that he had asked Sirius to help him with find them as well. Dumbledore shuddered. Is that why he looked so ragged?

"Sirius recognized his brother's handwriting immediately," Dumbledore said sadly. "Regulas replaced the real Slytherin's locket with his own." he smiled, but his eyes held no sparkle. "Sirius has just now realized what Kreacher went through. I daresay, it will take some time, but the two may grow fond of each other yet."

Calla was slackjawed. "Sirius's brother betrayed Voldemort?" she gaped.

Dumbledore nodded. "And Tom hasn't even realized it yet. It was inferi that killed Regulas Black."

Calla's eyebrows rose. Inferi? What were those?

"But we must push forward with our meeting, Calla. I have been told you are with child?"

Calla's heart dropped. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again.

"Y-y-yes, sir. But not because I wanted to!"

Dumbledore held up his hand. "I am disappointed, as this is a most unfortunate time for you to be cohorting about-"

Calla fumed, "I have not done such a thing! It's not like I didn't fight back, damn it!

Dumbledore raised a white eyebrow. "Fight back? Why, Calla, would you have fought back?"

Calla froze, unable to answer. She bent her head and focused on pressing her fingers together. She knew he wouldn't push for answers, but she didn't see the point in hiding it if she was about to start hunting evil objects.

"The boys in Surrey," she kept her eyes glued to the floor, "always liked to-I dunno-bully me, I suppose. And they think I go to that asylum school or whatever it is. They-they, you know, Professor," she looked up at him pleadingly. She really didn't want to talk about it.

Dumbledore paled, and looked surprised. "I suppose I understand," he finally murmured. "Feel free to use the pensieve to clear your thoughts." he motioned to it. "I know it seems like an awful thing to do, but it might help it you confront what you're afraid of."

"I can't," Calla whispered. "I know I'm supposed to be brave, but I can't. Not with that. I-I'm scared, and if that makes me a coward I don't care. I'm supposed to kill Voldemort, but I can't even defend myself from a bunch of muggles."

Dumbledore growled, "That is not true. All of us have our weaknesses, Calla. Even if you are afraid, you have always faced obstacles and overcome them. Come," he led her back to the stone basin. "I have used this many times in my years to overccome my fears, and to come to terms with many mistakes in my life. I will show you how to do this properly, and even if you can't talk about it, you can learn to overccome it with time."

Calla felt as if there was a stone in her throat. She really didn't want to do this, especially when she needed to be trying to figure out what in the world could be a horcrux in Hogwarts. A suit of armor? A plate? A portrait? She shuddered. There was too much. Simply too much, and she felt more than ever that she wasn't the right person for the job.

TBC

* * *

Thank you for reading this story and reviewing! :D

I know I skipped a lot of the whole explantion of what went on in the pensieve, as well as Dumbledore's explantion of the whole thing. I want to keep each chapter relatively short, and we can all pretty much tell what's going on there anyway.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own _Harry Potter_.

Snape's first chapter, yay! M

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

* * *

Dumbledore did not look happy. "I find it hard to believe that Severus would allow a succubus to follow him into Hogwarts...I must admit, Calla. I would never have expected Tom to try to create an heir."

Calla twisted awkwardly in her seat. She wanted to concentrate, but she was distracted by the pensieve's glow. Was Dumbledore going to browse through all her memories?

"I suggest that you and Hermione place wards around your beds, as well as your friends. I will speak to the Heads and tell them to do the same. Now, Calla, is there anything else we must discuss?" Dumbledore leaned in, his eyes glittering fondly again, "I know you must be hungry."

Calla squirmed, "Oh...yeah..."

"And do not worry. Besides the memory you just revealed to me, I will not look again without your permission." Dumbledore patted her hand kindly.

"Thanks."

"I'm sure you can show yourself out." Dumbledore's smile stayed in place, but Calla could tell he was ready to be alone again. She sighed. "Be careful," the headmaster ordered before the door shut him out of view.

Calla felt empty and anxious as she walked to Gryffindor Tower. She was too worried to eat, so she hurried back to her dorm.

Hermione's books were still stacked up between their beds. Calla took one and flipped it open, staring blankly at the empty pages. She didn't know where to start looking for a horxcrux. That the diary had been one was just a happy accident. Calla sighed, certain that none of the books in Hogwarts had any information on the item. Even more, she didn't have Hermione's brain, how in the world was she supposed to be able to find it alone? She gave up, chucking the book aside and covering her face with a pillow. She wanted Hermione's help desperately, but Dumbledore's warning creeped through her marrow. What if something happened to Hermione? What if she died, or ended up like the Longbottoms? Calla's chest burned, and her eyes stung as the thoughts of her and Ron lying in St. Mungo's, dead or worse, filled her head. She had to do it alone. She would do it alone.

* * *

Snape swept darkly through the corridor seething. That thing had been following him, and was once again leading him somewhere he was sure he didn't want to be. One second Nadia would be an old, ancient woman, and the next she would be a small, pretty girl. Those appearances didn't bother him. It was the one she had now that made his skin crawl. She didn't stand solidly infront of him. It was always in a blur, so that he barely caught a scent or a flash of red hair. _Lily's hair_.

He fumed, smoothly entering a corridor. The portraits moved and laughed around him. A young woman in a French portrait screamed as the flash of red hair swept past the end of the corridor across from her.

"Severus," she wailed, "there is a specter of bad sorts down that corridor!"

Snape spat at the wailing woman who was quickly being comforted by a knight. He moved quickly to the end of the corridor, worried of where the succubus was headed. He feared she would sneak upon an unsuspecting female student. He followed her more out of that fear than curiosity of where she was headed. He knew the castle by heart (or he liked to think he did) and the corridor he was being led down led to Myrtle's bathroom.

_Not again_, he inwardly seethed.

He stopped at the door and listened. He couldn't hear Myrtle's moaning, and so he quietly entered. He could see the back of the succubus standing solidly infront of a closed stall. It turned, Lily's face smiled at him. He wanted to murder it for taking on the appearance of_ his _Lily.

It was then that he heard the wretching coming from the stall. He crossed his arms, wondering what Nadia was planning, and watched the succubus disappear. He curled his lip and turned around, not wanting to see who was vomiting in the second stall.

In the end, despite Nadia's toying with him, he felt that he had a pleasant day. He took away numerous points, gave out detentions left and right, and made Calla run out of the classroom during double potions. He still remembered her red face as she fled after he mocked her for putting on weight. Even he knew not to announce her predicament, however.

Dumbledore had asked him to report to his office after dinner, and he did so quietly. He told Dumbledore of the Death Eater's whereabouts and meetings. He then had to listen to Dumbledore explain Calla's mission.

"You cannot be serious," Snape spat. "That idiot just wants attention and fame, you should not give her the chance to gain either."

Dumbledore chastised him, "Nor do you. I am telling you this so that you can protect her afterall. I also expect you not to tell anyone about her present condition."

Snape glowered, "You old fool, I have the common sense not to do such a thing. Why you entertain yourself by making her responsible for something so important is beyond me. In case you haven't noticed, she is a pregnant teenager. She didn't have the sense to not get knocked up, I don't think she has the sense to kill the most powerful wizard in history!"

Dumbledore's glare was ice cold. "Tom Marvolo Riddle is not the most powerful wizard in history. He doesn't even fully understand the dark magic he wants to wield so much. As for Calla's present condition, I find you may regret your words soon. I must go write a letter to a friend of mine. I'm sure you can find your way back to your dungeons, Professor." And with that Dumbledore coldly stood and walked to the back of his office.

Snape watched Dumbledore retreat, his jeweled cloak glittering under the small flames floating over their heads. Curling his upper lip, he stood and whirled around. As he did so, his eye caught the open pensieve. Snape never spied on Dumbledore's memories. Never. But something beckoned him closer, and he tried to blink against it. There was an invisible push, and he looked for Nadia. No, she was not here. For some reason, she refused to be near the old man.

The stone basin glowed, and Snape stood over it. He saw a new vial with Calla Potter written on the side. He smirked, and felt a hum of magic thrum against him again. _Well if wants to show me Potter's thoughts, I can't refuse_. Grinning maliciously, he popped the cork away and poured the silver strands into the pool. He stirred the basin once and then felt himself tugged in.

* * *

This is wonderful, Snape laughed as he strode through Number 4 Privet Drive. Now I can find something to make that little brat pay for her insolence. His mind automatically went to her invasion of his privacy, in which she saw her father hang him upside down and reveal his underpants. And his betrayal to Lily.

Seething he watched impatiently. Where was the prat?

Petunia Dursley, Snape sneered at what she had become (although he wasn't surprised), walked into the small hallway. Rapping and unlocking the door to the cupboard under the stairs, she screeched, "GET UP. YOU NEED TO MAKE BREAKFAST FOR VERNON!"

He leered at her harsh manner, and wondered why they would have a servant live in a cupboard. A few seconds later, Calla emerged from the small space. She was barely tall enough to reach above his knees, and her clothes were too big. Her shirt hung from the sides of her shoulders, and her jeans were held up by an old belt. He sneered at Potter's daughter, but something inside him lurched. Why would Petunia be treating Lily's daughter in such a way? Dudley entered a few minutes later, and Snape realized where Calla's old clothes were from. "I didn't know the Dursleys had money troubles," he said quietly. He wondered what Vernon was, which was soon answered by Vernon's rant about work at Drillings. He was planning on taking Petunia, Dudley, and some boy named Piers on a safari. Snape watched Calla curiously, wondering what the hell was going on. She was supposed to be spoiled with attention, not making breakfast for a fat man in falling clothes.

The memory changed and he was standing on a street in Surrey. Calla was walking down the sidewalk, hitching up her pants from time to time, while carrying two book bags. _Dudley_ was written on the side of the large, designer one. Dudley was infront of her and talking with another lank, rat-like boy that kept looking back at her. They would whisper between themselves and glance at her oddly, sometimes drawing her out of her reverie by calling her 'freak.'

Snape rolled his eyes, wondering if this was all that was bothering Calla. If this was making her hesitate to kill the Dark Lord, they were putting their faith in a pushover. However, he was interested in how this played out. Why not, since she had? He padded after them, smirking, until they arrived at a dark house. Two older boys stood there, there faces fixed with a cruel smile. Snape automatically thought about the Weasley twins, but that thought fell aside quickly. These boys seemed much more cruel than Fred and George. The four boys were bargaining for something. He couldn't hear them, as they were out of Calla's hearing range. After about twenty minutes of snickering, the tallest boy pointed at Calla. Snape noticed her stiffen as they motioned for her to approach them. Snape watched in fascination as she neared them, and then cried out as they grabbed her. His gut twisted, watching her kick and punch at them, trying to claw her way out. After a short struggle, and Calla's pants being pulled down by Dudley (much to Snape's horror) Calla broke free and bolted away. Snape expected her to be caught, but her small frame made her faster. Soon, the street was gone and he was once again at Privet Drive.

It was recent, as Calla was older, but she was in a small bedroom. Her fat cousin and his rat-like friend that Dudley called Piers had her cornered. Snape watched through narrow eyes as Calla was beaten in the head by Dudley, and then pressed to the bed by Piers.

He turned around and found himself in the backyard. Calla was topless and being whipped by Petunia, her back breaking out in harsh lines of blood. Calla gritted her teeth against the pain.

It was daylight in the next memory, and Petunia was hosing down a trembling Calla. She snarled at her aunt angrily and recieved a stare that would have killed a city had it the power.

The next memory was nighttime, and Calla was screaming. A bunch of boys were crowded around the shed, watching as Piers entered her forcefully. He felt sick suddenly, watching the boys abuse her all ready broken flesh. Her red hair, Lily's hair, streaming down her body as Piers took her infront of a laughing crowd.

Snape tried to tear himself away, putting all his will into reaching the top of the basin, but he couldn't leave. His feet, to his horror, were rooted to the spot. He could feel Dumbledore beside him, but he wasn't there.

"Damnit, let me go! I get it, now let me out!" he roared past the ebbing screams.

He turned back as they finally died away and Calla became limp, emotionless. One of the boys were now fondling her as the others guffawed, and Piers came with a triumphant shout.

"You bastards," Snape's teeth were clenching and his fists were curled. "LET ME OUT!"

Dumbledore was still hiding when Snape finally emerged from the basin. "Come out here and explain this!" Snape spat, pointing at the pensieve. "DUMBLEDORE?"

Dumbledore's curtains closed, and everything remained silent. A portrait on the wall serenly asked, "Well, what was it?"

"Silence," Snape snarled before stomping out of the office and slamming the door.

Snape sat alone in his office, trying to concentrate on his lists and essays. However, as he grew more tired, he found it hard to tear himself away from what he had seen. He stilled at the horror of seeing Calla raped by muggles. As the candle grew dimmer, his imagination began to escalate. He started as he realized he had been thinking about her naked body for twenty minutes without getting anything done. He licked his lips as the memory of her breasts swam across his mind, and he wondered if Lily had breasts like that. He'd never seen them, as much as he had wanted to. She never invited him over just for a "see."

But now he felt that he had seen, in a worse way than he had ever wanted. He recalled all the things he had been saying and slumped back in his chair. _Great job, Severus, you've surely scarred her now. _He shook his head. _No, by the looks of it, another man did that before I ever got the chance_. He buried his face in his hands.

He was becoming confused. He loved Lily Evans, but her daughter...she was a ghost to him. Perhaps if she had taken after her father...maybe if she had been a boy that took after James...he would not have lived the last few years in fear of _this_ feeling. But no. At the Sorting Feast, his worst fears were confirmed, and the spitting image of Lily Evans walked into Hogwarts. Everytime he looked at her he saw what he lost to _James Potter _of all people. He also saw everything that had attracted him to Lily in the first place.

Reaching for a drink from his shelf, Snape snarled. He had done everything he could to keep her as far away from himself and safe at the same time, and she still ended up damaged. He grimaced, wishing she was still innocent. He drank deeply, allowing himself to drown in the dark wine. He was angry with the muggles for what they did, but more than anything he was angry with himself. The image of her naked, bleeding body was still fresh in his mind, and he was still very much enthralled by it.

TBC

* * *

Okay, folks, now Snape knows! omg I may have strayed from canon here, but it has to be done if the story is going to progress to Calla and Snape getting together. Hope you enjoyed, and if not that's okay too. ;)

Magically Inclined: Thanks! Hope you enjoy Snape's revelation. ;) I daresay, he really isn't taking it well.

SocksforDobby: I heavily considered how blunt Hermione would be. Since they are discussing something sexually predatorial in the wizard world, and toeing Calla's rape, I think she would try to be subtle even if it was a canon Harry or not. When it comes to things of a sexual nature, there are times that Hermione is subtle in the series, simply because she's not accustomed to being sexual or flirtatious. Sorry for my rant. I analyse things a bit much. ^_^; But I wanted to show that even though she'll be forceful about things, she's currently taking Calla's hesitations and fears into account.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

* * *

Calla rocked back and forth on her toes and heels and she waited for Hermione to decide which warding spell she wanted to use. The bushy-haired girl kept looking up at Calla, her brown eyes narrowing at her stomach.

"Will you stop that, Hermione?"

Hermione blinked. "I'm sorry." She turned to Lavender's bed and chanted, waving her wand slowly around the end.

Calla faced Parvati's bed and repeated the same chant, trying to focus all her focus on a white shield gathering around the bed.

"What are you two doing?"

Calla and Hermione started as Lavender and Parvati entered the dorm arm-in-arm.

"N-nothing," Hermione answered sheepishly. "J-just, you know-"

"Looking for nargles for Luna Lovegood," Calla quipped.

"Yeah-" Hermione glared angrily at Calla-"we've been recruited to the...Nargle Hunt..."

The two girls quirked their eyebrows suspiciously.

"I can't believe you would be caught dead with that weirdo," Lavender said silkily.

Calla fumed, "She's not a weirdo, she's...unique."

Parvati snatched a magazine off her bed and smoothed her hair back. "I'm sure that's what she has to tell herself."

Narrowing her eyes, Calla marched out of the dormitory. Why did they have to be so disagreeable? She wanted to be angry, but she felt too tired. In fact, all she had felt for the past three days was fatigue. Her weekend had been long, and it was made even longer by Dumbledore possessing her memories of Surrey. That and she was lost as to how to find a missing horcrux.

Sighing, she slid out of the portrait, waving at The Fat Lady as she passed by.

"Calla, we mustn't listen to them. They don't know what they're talking about anyway."

Hermione was climbing into the bench beside Calla at Gryffindor's table.

"You think she's a weirdo too, Hermione."

Hermione's eyebrows raised, "Really, I'm not saying she's anything, it's just that she's a bit off with some of the things she believes."

"So she's wrong for believing in something?"

"Calla, I don't understand why you care. You couldn't get farther away from her last year."

"Maybe I realized she's...she's kind of like us. I think."

Hermione rolled her eyes as if to say 'Whatever.' "Anyway, I hope you finished your essay."

"What essay?"

"Oh, Lord," Hermione's eyes bulged, "the one Snape assigned last time! About the uses of fermented spleen in potions?"

Calla's stomach flipped. "Oh no!" she cried, burrying her head in her arms. "I can't believe I forgot! Why, Hermione? Why?"

Hermione smiled sympathetically. "I doubt he'd ignore it next time if you skipped today. Seeing as how he all but chased you from the room last time."

Calla blushed, recalling Snape's scathing remark about weight gain. "I'm not fat, am I?"

Hermione pinched her arm, "You silly twat. Of course not, he was being mean because you're a girl, and he probably figures you overreacted because of how much girls' obsess over looks. I can't help you with the essay, but you still need to go."

Calla sat brooding, staring at the watch she still wore out of habit. "I really should get a new one someday," she tapped the glass.

"I've heard there are some really cool ones in Hogsmeade," Hermione stated. She had finished her toast and was getting up. "Are you coming?"

Groaning, Calla stood and followed meekly as Hermione led the way to the dungeons. Calla wished she had Hermione's motivation, or better yet, her brains. Smirking, she turned the corner and saw Snape approaching from the other side of the hall.

"I'm sorry," Hermione squeezed Calla's hand, "we'll get through this."

As they neared the door, if came apparant that they were going to be there at the same time. Calla had suffered other occassions such as this. They usually ended with her being called impertinet, twenty points being deducted (in all), and Snape swooping away with his cloak billowing around him.

Snape paused infront of the door, remaining silent while Calla and Hermione tensed. Neither of them knew if it was alright for them to go first, as he'd always stopped them at any oppurtunity and then stalked away.

Raising his eyebrow, Snape icily sneered, "Why are you loitering in the corridor? Get inside."

Hermione and Calla hurried to their table, squinting at each other to show how much they agreed he had acted odd.

"I expect all essay scrolls to be on my desk at the end of class." Snape moved around the classroom. "Today you will begin by copying notes off the board. You will follow directions to the Bravery-Inducing Brew, making sure to take notes as you progress. Begin now."

Calla and Hermione were about to begin grinding and mincing their ingredients when Ron trapsed in, completely wet and muddy.

"Why are you late, Weasley?" Snape asked coolly.

Ron's ears turned red, "Sorry, Professor McGonagall wanted me to go to Hagrid's for her. Here's the note."

He sidled up to the room and collapsed at the trio's table after allowing Snape to sneer at his wet parchment.

"Was something wrong with Hagrid?" Calla whispered worriedly.

"Ah, no, not much-what are we doing?-oh, okay."

Hermione stopped handing him herbs and demanded, "Well, aren't you going to tell us what it was?"

Ron shook his head, "It was a package. Hagrid had picked it up in Hogsmeade, and it was too heavy for owls. Hagrid had to go to the forest anyway-Grawp is causing trouble."

"Silence," Snape snapped, "if you can't keep your conversations narrowed to the potion that could kill you all."

Calla rolled her eyes. That's just what Snape would want. She glared up at him, but he turned away and walked through the Slytherins. He stopped over Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle's potion, leaning over and telling Draco something. Draco seemed to push him away, concentrating on the silver cauldron infront of him.

"Looks like Snape's up to something," Ron whispered, struggling with a pair of toads. "I don't think these are going to cut-go get a fatter one-"

Hermione snapped, "Of course he is, there's a you-know-what somewhere around. And it's not the toads fault for being small, you have to change the angle!"  
"I don't think this toad was meant for potions! Look at it, all sickly and small looking. If it had glasses, it'd look like Calla-OW!"

Calla glared vehemently as she pinched his arm.

"Sorry! Well, it's not like you have them anymore!"

Calla wrinkled her nose, but was stopped from retorting as they had once again caught Snape's attention.

"I said to concentrate. Five points from Gryffindor for each of you."

"But, Professor," Ron whined sheepishly, "I think these toads are too small."

Snape narrowed his eyes down his large nose at the pitifully dead things sprawled before him. "I see nothing wrong with the specimens, Weasley. Perhaps your head is too large for you to properly percieve things."

Ron ears turned red, and slumped in his chair.

"What are you doing?" Snape suddenly barked, making the trio jump. His heated stare was directed at Calla, who was about to add an herb-filled gall bladder to the cauldron.

"N-nothing, sir," Calla chirped, lowering the bladder lower into the bubbling cauldron.

Snape swept around and hissed, "Stop this instant."

Calla bit her lip painfully, wary of how on earth she had managed to screw up filling an organ with herbs. She pulled the bladder back up and set it down, forcing herself to stay still as Snape's greasy hair hung too close to her face for comfort.

Wrinkling his nose, he stepped away, knocking into Calla's shoulder and making her grimace. He startled, looking surprised for a second, before he regained his composure. "Weasley, add the bladder." He ignored Ron's incredulous stare. He had been staring sadly at the two small toads.

After class, Calla was interrupted two more times as she tried to add ingredients and stir the brew. Hermione was blue in the face, and Ron was beside himself after having partially successfully chopped and dehearted the toads.

"I'm surprised he didn't take points from me," Calla murmured as they climbed the staircase back to the entrance hall.

"Oh, Calla," Hermione snapped, "didn't you see it? Dumbledore has obviously talked to him."

"Why is that?" Ron asked, nursing his swollen thumb. He had crushed it with a pedastool.

Hermione frowned at them, probably pitying their poor observation skills. "He wasn't attacking you like usual. He was acting concerned, and by making Ron add those certain ingredients he was trying to lower your risk to bad exposure."

Calla felt her eyes bulge. She and Ron were gaping at each other. "There's no way Snape would care, Hermione," Ron said seriously. "He has the emotional faculty of a old goat!"

Hermione's eyes furrowed, but she pressed on. "Sometimes potions ingredients or the formula themselves can be harmful to a fetus, even if you just get a bit on your arm. Even if you just get it on your clothes, but get horribly drowsy or sick, it can harm the baby. He kept interrupting you when you were about to do things that usually have bad backfires if done wrong."

Ron and Calla stared at Hermione like she was a bug, before Ron cried, "So he just through me infront of the line of danger?"

Calla laughed, patting him on the shoulder. "I thought you like being in the face of danger, Ron! Remember that speech about becoming keeper, 'to face danger head on, to take the Slytherin's balls in the face-"

"Shut up, Calla!" Ears red again, Ron led them up the last flight. "I hope you know, I was drunk then. Really drunk. And what's her face was feeling me-" he stopped at the banshee-like glare Hermione shot him. "Er, yeah. I didn't mean it!"

Hermione chuckled darkly, "Of course you wouldn't, Ronald."

Calla and Ron grimaced. Now they had upset Hermione, and Calla didn't imagine this was going to fade quickly. Hermione still had a grudge against Lavender for her frollick through Hogwarts with Ron. She had confided in Calla that she was still afraid of finding out what they did-or hadn't done. Lavender seemed quite...ambitious...when it came to her boyfriends. She and Calla had been subjected to one too many summer love stories from their roommates. Other times, they felt jealous. Neither of them had had many pursuits in love, and Hermione had atleast managed to have a couple of boyfriends. Calla couldn't bring herself to date a guy very often. First there had been Cedric, who had died. Then there was Charlie, who thought she was his sister. She sighed, knowing how everyone was bewildered by her frequent choices to go to special events with friends instead of dates.

"I have to go to Runes now," Hermione said through gritted teeth. "I'll see you later." she left them in the Great Hall, her hands filled with a sandwich.

"She seems to have tied her nickers in a knot," Ron said wistfully.

Calla rolled her eyes and sat down, reaching for the barbecue dish that had magically been appearing since her cravings had started.

"May I?" Ron reached for leg.

"Whoa, there, Seeker," Seamus cried as she buried her face in an especially thick sandwhich. "No need to build up for your stamina yet-"

Ron said, "She not, she's-" and then began to choke as Calla ribbed him. "preparing," he choked again, "for, um, studying. Yeah, she's gotta a lot of studying to do, right?" he looked hopefully at her and she nodded, unaware of how much of a mess she was making.

"Is Hermione really drilling you then?" Neville asked wearily.

Calla shook her head. Swallowing she finally managed, "Not really. I've just been studying too much to eat these last few days, and uh, I'm starved."

Neville's eyes squinted, but he remained silent. The others took it as face value and continued with their conversation.

"Potter," a drawl sipped in between Ron and Calla. "Please refrain yourself from eating like a heathen and use a knife and fork."

Calla glared stubbornly, but reached for a large knapkin. "Is something wrong, sir?" she asked, noting how stupid she sounded.

"I need to discuss remedial potions with you."

Calla's lip curled as the words 'remedial potions' caught the attention of eavesdroppers and made them gape. The very thought that the Girl-Who-Lived needed remedial potions in her sixth year was laughable. Resigning to her fate, but not before she grabbed a bowl of pudding that appeared, she followed Snape into one of the side corridor's and into a small room.

"Dumbledore has asked me to aid you in your search," his tone was icy.

Despite holding her bowl quite firmly, Calla thought she heard it crash across the floor. "Help me? Uh, you don't have to, sir. I think I can manage."

Snape glowered, slamming his goblet on a table. "You cannot manage, you need help. Tell me, have you even got a clue as to where the object you want to find is located?"

Calla sucked her spoon, her eyes trained on the floor. No, she didn't have a clue.

"Well then," she approached slowly, "what's the deal?"

Snape frowned, "Deal?"

"I doubt you would want to do this just to help me. Is it because of Dumbledore, my mother, or is there something you want?"

Snape seethed, "You arrogant moron, I am here because of Dumbledore's order. Do not misunderstand this for something else."

Calla narrowed her eyes. She wasn't good at much, but at this point she figured she could tell when Snape was hiding something. The way he was standing was too awkward, and he was keeping his face completely neutral. He was obviously Occluding. Calla sighed. She didn't even enough power to feel any of his obvious emotions. The idea of trying to find out the truth in that skull was daunting. But, she grimaced, there's one way that has always worked. Pissing him off.

"How do I know you're not trying to get back at my father? You could just want to-"

"DON'T YOU-" Snape pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do not suggest such things, and do not bring him up here. I am here to help you on Dumbledore's orders."

"I thought you wanted to help Draco," Calla said stubbornly.

Snape's fists clenched, "I am trying to help a bunch of young idiots that don't recognize intelligence when they see it."

Calla cleared her throat. "You've never wanted to help me before. And you don't care about the baby anway-"

Snape's face paled. She was all ready talking about the baby. "I didn't realize, despite how much you've been stuffing your face-" he stopped to enjoy her frown "that you had come so far along. I haven't been paying much attention."

Calla laughed, "You didn't know. It's still knew to you, but it's not to me. Now, tell me what's going on or I'm leaving."

Snape reached forward and grasped her shoulder. "You idiot," his black eyes glittered painfully. She could see her reflection in his eyes again...she looked small and stubborn. "You can't go waddling about the corridors expecting to fight the Dark Lord and his minions when you're about to go into labor! You don't think you're just going to find it? You have to search from scratch, and for one thing, I doubt you can do it like," he waved his hand over her, "this."

Calla fixed her eyes on his black shoes. They were black and shiny, but for the first time she realized how worn they were.

"Fine. You can help," she hissed.

"You should be grateful."

Calla glared, turning around, and led the way back to the entrance hall.

"And don't let anyone hear about this," Snape murmured. He glanced down at her stomach before escaping to his dungeons, thirsting for some wine to drown himself in.

TBC

* * *

It's getting there, it's getting there. I didn't feel good today or yesterday, so I didn't write a lot. Hope you enjoy. I'm not proofreading this yet, so I'll go back tomorrow and fix any problems I find. Thanks for reading!

~EmberSpy~


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